


With Friends Like These

by Trinitychaos



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-08 03:14:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 9,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1924596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trinitychaos/pseuds/Trinitychaos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of random drabbles that each tell a different story. They feature all the Strawhats but a majority will most likely focus on Zoro and Sanji and/or Zosan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Friends

“I'm pretty sure you don't live here,” was the first thing that came out of Zoro's mouth when he walked into his apartment to see Usopp and Luffy playing around on his couch and Sanji rummaging through his kitchen cabinets. 

The blond chef snorted as he pulled out an old frying pan and placed it on the stove. “If you wanted privacy then you shouldn't have given Luffy a key,” Sanji retored, lighting the stove top before opening the nearby fridge. Zoro ignored the other man in favor of watching the two other boys on the couch clammer over each other for control of the television remote.

Luffy was currently holding the remote high above his head, his other hand pressed against Usopp's cheek to keep him away from the device.

“C'mon Luffy! Isn't it my turn to choose what to watch?” Usopp complained, his voice muffled from his squashed cheek. The younger boy shook his head furiously. 

“No way! The movie's just getting to the good part and-oh, hey Zoro!” Luffy's head was tilted back, looking at the green-haired man at the door upside down. He gave Zoro a wide grin. “Welcome home!”

Zoro sighed and rubbed at this forehead in frustration. “Luffy, I gave you a key in case of an emergency.”

“But this is an emergency!” Luffy defended, suddenly sitting up and, in the process, throwing Usopp to the ground. “Me and Usopp were at my apartment playing video games when Ace came home early! But Ace had someone with him and the next thing we know, Ace tells us to get out! Where else were we suppose to go besides your apartment? But then me and Usopp got really hungry, and Zoro you don't have any food in your fridge, so we called Sanji over to make us lunch!”

Luffy gave Zoro another wide smile and Zoro let out another sigh. 

“Fine,” the older man said, shutting the apartment door. He made his way over to the couch to sit at the end next to Usopp who had picked himself up off the floor. “But no more surprise visits, got it?”

“Got it!” Luffy chimed with a thumbs up. 

Zoro nodded and turned his attention to the television....the television that was much smaller and cheaper looking than what he saw that morning....

“What the hell happened to my t.v.?” Zoro demanded, jumping up from the couch to glare at the two younger boys. 

Luffy laughed. “I let Nami in here earlier! She said she could have it since you owed her money but it's okay! She let us keep this one!”

Sanji's laughter could be heard over the string of curses that Zoro spewed out.


	2. Ice Skater

Zoro was not obsessed, okay? He had a perfectly good reason to visit the ice rink every weekend. A real, legitimate reason. 

Chopper, a close friend who had been born and raised in a snowy country, had deemed it absolutely essential that he finally learned how to ice skate. And when he stared at anyone with his large innocent eyes, how could anyone refuse? Nami had taken it upon herself to hire a suitable teacher for the younger boy, claiming that she knew someone who would gladly teach for free.

So every weekend, Chopper met with the teacher at the town's ice rink with Zoro in tow because Zoro lived nearby and someone had to make sure the kid was safe. See? Zoro had every reason to keep coming back to the ice rink with Chopper. The blonde teacher that Nami hired most certainty had nothing to do with it. Nope. No way. Not in the slight-

“Wow, Sanji, that's amazing!”

Chopper's voice brought Zoro's attention to the ice rink where his jaw dropped to the floor.

There was the blond teacher, Sanji, circling in place on the ice on one bent leg, his other leg stretched out in front of him. Sanji's body was practically bent in half as he bent forward to touch the tip of his out stretched foot. When his spinning slowed Sanji brought his leg back down and gracefully came to stop, his body facing where Zoro sat on a nearby bench. And then, to Zoro's surprise, the other man winked at him. The bastard winked at him!

So, yes, Zoro was definitely only here to support Chopper. Obviously.

“That's incredible, Sanji!” Chopper praised. “Can you teach me how to do that?”

Sanji turned away from Zoro to smile at the younger boy. 

“Maybe next time,” he said, patting the boy on the head. “For now, lets make sure you can make it across the rink without falling.”

Ushering Chopper away with a gentle push, Sanji turned his head back to where Zoro sat. The green-haired man stared intensely at the blond with an expression that looked like it couldn't decide between annoyed and aroused.

Sanji sent him another wink and couldn't stop the laugh that came when the other man's face flushed bright red.

~/~/~/~/~/~

“Zoro?”

“Hmmm?”

“Do you like Sanji?”

Zoro choked on the hot chocolate that he had swallowed, the hot liquid burning his throat painfully. Chopper yelped in panic, whipping his head around frantically for someone that could help in case Zoro dropped dead right there.

“Where...did you...get that, Chopper?” Zoro managed to get through his coughs. Chopper watched him with worried eyes until the coughing subsided. 

“Nami said something about it that one time she volunteered to take me to practice but you came along anyway.”

Zoro mentally cursed the witch and her big, loud mouth.

“So, do you?” Chopper asked again. He watched Zoro with anticipation.

Zoro sighed. “Just drink your hot chocolate, kid.” He hoped that would be the end of the conversation.

A comfortable silence came between the two as Chopper finished the rest of his drink. As the two made their way back home, Chopper spoke again.

“I think you should buy him some hot chocolate too,”

“Why's that?” Zoro asked, humoring the younger boy.

“Because since it started to snow, its been getting really cold. I'm freezing after every practice, I imagine he is too.”

Zoro didn't answer and let the silence settle between them once more. 

~/~/~/~/~/~

“Alright Chopper, good job today! I'll see you next week, yeah?” Sanji watched as Chopper wobbily made his way over to Zoro who held the customary two cups of hot chocolate in his hands. Sanji smiled at the brotherly affection and made his way to the nearby bench to remove his skates.

When Sanji finished replacing his skates with his much more comfortable sneakers a shadow loomed over his hunched over form. Looking up, Sanji smiled at the man who toward over him, a hand outstretched toward him with an offering of a paper cup that had something steaming inside. 

Zoro watched the blond man with an anxious expression, his eyes daring between the cup in his hand and the bright blue eye in front of him. Damn Chopper for putting this stupid idea into his head.

“Would you...,” Zoro cleared his throat and tried again. “You looked cold so I got you a cup too.”

The blond bastard just kept smiling at him. “Where's Chopper?” he asked.

Zoro motioned his head in a vague direction. “Robin came to pick him up today,” he explained.

Something in Sanji's eyes changed and his smile turned into a smirk. Zoro couldn't stop his heart from racing at the devious expression.

Sanji's hand shot out and grabbed the wrist that held the cup of hot chocolate, his thumb stroking small circles at the skin.

“You don't need to drink that stuff,” the ice skater rose from the bench and although Zoro was taller than him by a bit, he couldn't help the automatic step back that he took. “I can make hot chocolate so much better than that stuff.”

Before Zoro could do or say anything, Sanji's lips were at his ear, hot breath hitting cold skin causing the taller man to shiver. 

“It'll make you so hot and have you moaning in pleasure,” the blond man practically purred the words into Zoro's ear, smirking as he heard the other man take in a deep breath.

“Are we still talking about the hot chocolate?” Zoro breathed out. 

Sanji barked out a laugh and pulled away from the green-haired man. The blond ice skater tugged at Zoro's wrist , urging the man to follow him. 

“Would you like to find out?”

Zoro didn't say anything and allowed the blond to lead him to wherever it was they were headed to. At the nearest trash can he threw away the still full cup of hot chocolate.


	3. Crossovers

Ouran High School Host Club

“A woman should always be treated with absolute respect!”

“I agree! Waited on hand and foot, you must cater to their every need.”

“Showered with lovely compliments!”

“Oh, absolutely!”

Zoro turned his attention away from the two blonds, whose mouths would not stop moving with flowery speech and whose bodies danced in place with excitement, at the sound of glass shattering. 

A young boy, much smaller in stature in comparison to the swordsman, stood stock still in the middle of the mess of spilt tea and shattered tea cups that he had dropped. His wide, brown eyes watched the two excited blonds in horror.

“Oh god,” he muttered. “There's two of them.”

~/~/~/~/~/~

Tsubasa

They had appeared on their ship out of thin air. A rag tag group that contained a mage, a warrior, a princess, an architect, and a bunny-like-thing. At least, that's what they all claimed to be. Zoro didn't really care. All the mattered was that the group of new comers would be riding on their ship until the next island and that the warrior of the group made for a rather good drinking buddy. 

A sudden crash and angry shouts came from the boy's bunk below. Zoro and Kurogane paused in their drinking to watch at the door to the room flew open and a lithe blond figure jumped out. There stood Fai, the mage of the group, clad in nothing but bright pink stockings that led up to frilly pink panties and his large, white coat. Kurogane choked on his drink. 

“What are you wearing?” the warrior demanded, extremely glad that the kids were currently somewhere else on the ship.

Fai gave his companion a bright smile and a wink. “Ah, does Kuro-poo think I look sexy in this outfit?”

“Like hell!” Kurogane denied. “Where did you even get that?”

“I borrowed it for a bit!”

Zoro was about to ask from who exactly he borrowed it from since, as far as he could remember, the blond had not stepped foot in the girl's room when a screech of “shitty mage!” and a violent kick to the blond stranger's head answered his question. 

~/~/~/~/~/~

Pokemon

“Awww, look at it. It's so cute.” Luffy poked the red cheek of the yellow creature that he had found moments before. The tiny creature gave a small chirp of “pika!” before jumping into the rubber boy's lap to snuggle closer.

“It kind of sounds like Chopper too!” Luffy laughed as he pet the small creature. A few silent moments passed and then,

“Sanji, let's eat this one fore dinner tonight, okay?!”


	4. Proposal

They were both morons. Both the shitty old geezer and the damn marimo were extremely embarrassing morons. Of course, this wasn’t new information to Sanji. After all, he had spent most of his adolescent years with Zeff on the Baratie and several years in close quarters with Zoro (and the relationship that eventually developed between him and the swordsman only further proved the fact that Zoro did indeed have more muscle than brains). But the blonde cook had learned over the years how to tolerate their more annoying quirks and characteristics.

But that had been separately and now the two of them were together, standing toe to toe, glaring at each other with an intensity that promised a fight. Sanji wanted to rip his hair out in frustration.

“Oi, crap geezer, what’s with the warm welcome?” Sanji complained in an attempt to lure the older man’s glare away from the swordsman. “You see me for the first time in years and the first thing you do is try and pick a fight with the moss head?”

But Zeff ignored Sanji completely, instead narrowing his eyes at Zoro. “So you’re the one who the little brat’s been messing around with,” It wasn’t so much of a question as it was an accusation.

Zoro stayed firm, “Yeah,”

The older chef studied the man across from him for a moment before speaking again, “You’re the type who doesn’t think much before you try to cut something up, am I right?”

Hole in one, Sanji thought as he lit a cigarette to try and calm his nerves. What were the two trying to prove to each other?

Zoro nodded, “And you’re the old man who saved Sanji’s life years ago,”

The remark was not one that Sanji had been expecting. He had told Zoro the story of when him and Zeff had been stuck on that rock together, the feeling of immense hunger that they both experienced, how the old man had saved the little boy that he didn’t even know, years ago and it never really come up since. But to bring it up now of all times…why?

Sanji was suddenly pulled out his thoughts as Zoro’s hand wrapped itself around his wrist to pull him closer. The cook let out a yelp of surprise when he met with the swordsman’s chest and felt his face burn in embarrassment as he stood before Zeff with Zoro’s arms circled tightly around his midsection. The green haired man laid his chin on the cook’s shoulder but never broke eye contact with the ex-pirate.

“Thanks to you, the cook was able to survive and live the rest of his life learning to do what he loves,” Zoro’s breathe tickled Sanji’s ear and he fought back the urge to shiver at the feeling. “You also helped to push him into joining with Luffy to fulfill his dream.”

One of Zoro’s hands removed itself from the embrace to catch ahold of one of Sanji’s hands and intertwine their fingers. Sanji was sure his face was as deep a red as it could get but Zeff seemed unaffected by the whole display of affection. The swordsman continued,

“So, it should only be appropriate that I ask you if the curly-brow can spend the rest of his life by my side.”

There was a brief moment where everyone in the room was stock still, slowly processing the words that came from the swordsman’s mouth. Sanji’s breathe was caught in his throat, his red face was practically on fire, and the close contact with Zoro only seemed to make things worse. Did the marimo just do the equivalent of asking a father for his daughter’s hand in marriage?

“Screw that!” Sanji screeched, twisting himself from Zoro’s grasp to swing a kick to his head. The other man ducked in time, alarmed at the cook’s sudden violent reaction. “I’m not a woman that needs this shitty old man’s permission to spend my life with someone, stupid swordsman!”

Zeff’s voice rose above the curses that spewed from Sanji’s mouth. “If you want him, that’s fine. He’s your problem now.” There was a sudden cold chill in the room when Zeff sent another heated glare toward Zoro. “Just make sure I never have to get involved.”

Did the old chef just do the equivalent of the “hurt her, and I’ll kill you” line?

Sanji seethed.

“Damnit! Both of you stop treating me like I’m some little girl!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for an anon prompt on Tumblr: Prompt: Zoro asking Zeff for Sanji's hand in marriage (and Sanji getting mad at being treated like a girl)


	5. The Tango

Sanji loved his job for multiple reasons.

The first was that Sanji loved to dance. He loved the freedom of movement and expression that it brought him. The absolute thrill that came with the beat of any and every type of music. No matter what kind of music it was, Sanji was sure to find some way to move with it and make it look good.

The second reason was that Sanji loved to teach others how to dance. There was something fulfilling about teaching others to move gracefully, with purpose and meaning. Seeing such optimistic faces of those who were just as passionate about the activity as he was always made the blond man's day.

The third reason (which really shouldn't count as a reason since it was more like a subdivision of the second reason) was that Sanji absolutely loved teaching women how to dance. Women were already beautiful treasures that deserved to be dotted on and cared for, but when a women knew how to dance, she became something otherworldly, too lovely and beautiful for the common man. As a bonus, since Sanji taught many women how to dance he had multiple opportunities to touch the smooth and soft skin that women took such good care of, keep in close contact with the pretense of correcting them on their form.

Oh yes, being a dance instructor certainly had its perks.

Teaching muscle-brained, marimo jerks, however, was definitely not one of them.

Sanji glared at the green haired man who was currently doing stretches on the floor of his small dance studio, completely oblivious to the hatred directed toward him. The blond dancer cursed his shitty luck. Why did he have to give a one-on-one dance lesson to this...this moron?

It had all started when Sanji had been hired by the Grand Line Theater Department. They had asked that he help choreograph the dances for the upcoming winter play and Sanji had only been happy to obliged. It would be the biggest project Sanji had ever taken and would help advertise his small dance studio.

It had been great at first. The members of the ensemble were quick, determined learners who practiced and performed with enthusiasm. Sanji couldn't help but feel giddy to see his dances coming to life on a stage. Sanji had been most ecstatic about one dance in particular. A fast paced tango between the two leads, a representation of their fiery and passionate love that Sanji took weeks to perfect. The blond dancer had been delighted to teach Robin, the female lead of the play, the dance during private lessons. Not only was the older woman absolutely gorgeous but she danced with a memorizing swing of her body that was perfect for the tango. Robin had gotten the dance down in no time. Her partner, however, was a different story.

Sanji wasn't sure how Zoro got the male lead. He supposed the man had a deep, gruff singing voice that matched his character, and okay his acting wasn't that bad, but his dancing was horrendous. Week after week Sanji would watch in horror as Robin attempted to teach Zoro the dance, that Sanji worked extremely hard to choreograph thank you very much, only to have the idiot moss head butcher it beyond recognition. 

“Perhaps he would learn better with a professional,” Robin suggested to him after rehearsal one day and Sanji couldn't say no to that charming and polite smile that she gave him. 

So there he was, stuck giving the man he most certainly did not get along with a private lesson on how to dance the tango. Great.

“Alright, let's get started,” Sanji sighed, motioning for the other man to stand in the middle of the floor. Zoro only grunted as he got into position which only served to grate on Sanji's nerves more. 

“Okay,” Sanji said through clenched teeth. “I'm going to start the music and you just do the dance. I'm going to correct you along the way. Think you can handle that, marimo?”

Zoro looked at him in confusion. “I'm dancing by myself? Isn't this suppose to be a two person thing?”

Sanji growled. Thing? A thing? This thing is a creative masterpiece you Neanderthal! 

“Do you see any women you can dance with?” Sanji said instead, rolling his eyes. 

“Well,” Zoro started, his mouth quirking into a smirk as he glanced at the blond dancer.

“Just do the dance!” Sanji said hotly before the green haired man could continue with whatever insult he was ready to say. Sanji pressed play on the stereo, allowing the music to fill the room. The beginning was slow meant for the two leads to be serenading each other with pretty words. Sanji could see Zoro mouth the words of the song quietly to himself, his brows creased in concentration. 

There was a slight pause in the song, signaling the beginning of the dance. The tempo got faster, picking up with each set of counts. And Zoro was absolutely lost. The man stumbled and tripped, cursing out loud each time he fell behind the counts. It was painful for Sanji to even watch. 

Feeling merciful, Sanji shut off the music plunging the room in silence and leaving Zoro awkwardly mid-step of the dance. 

“Geez, marimo, what have you been doing these past few weeks of rehearsal?” Sanji asked, crossing his arms. “It's like you haven't learned this dance at all.”

“Shut up!” Zoro scowled at the other man. “Just correct me where I'm doing something wrong.”

“Everything is wrong!” Sanji yelled exacerbated, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“This is stupid,” Zoro complained, glaring at the hard wood floor beneath him. “It's harder when it's just me dancing.”

Sanji bit his lip as he watched the other man actually pout. Okay, so maybe he felt a little bad for the guy. The choreography was pretty hard for those who didn't have a background in dance so it was a little understandable that he couldn't get it right away. Sanji sighed when he came to a decision.

“Alright, I'll dance with you,” Zoro's head shot up, looking at Sanji as if he didn't trust his words. The blond dancer started the song over and pressed play, the slow beginning starting up once more. 

“It's easier if you have a partner, I guess,” Sanji mumbled when he got to Zoro, placing one hand on the taller man's shoulder and intertwining their fingers on the other. Sanji stubbornly ignored the warmth that seeped through his clothes when Zoro placed a firm hand on his hip and kept his head down to avoid the man's gaze. The quicker the idiot learned the dance, the quicker they could be out of each other's lives. 

The pause in the song happened and Sanji took a deep breath, ready to lead Zoro while still dancing the part of the woman. 

Except that didn't happen. The music picked up and suddenly Sanji was moved backwards, Zoro stepping forward in steps that matched with the time of the music. It was happening all so fast. Zoro was moving, turning, twisting, in a blur of movements. His feet tapped around Sanji's, his legs swinging, his hands pushing and pulling his blond partner along to the music. And Sanji could nothing but follow, his body set on auto pilot as he followed Zoro's every move, and god, it was exhilarating. Sanji couldn't remember the last time he moved this fast, this intense, desperate to match the pace of his partner.

I forgot how much contact was in this dance, Sanji thought as he wrapped a leg around one of Zoro's, swinging himself around. Zoro followed the motion, pulling the blond in close enough so that nothing could come between their bodies. The taller man lifted Sanji, allowing the blond dancer to kick his legs out before wrapping them around Zoro's torso forcing the green haired man to carry his weight as he spun. Sanji could hear the song coming to an end as Zoro lifted him up again to place him back down on his feet. When the final note of the song rang out Sanji found himself in a dip with Zoro hovering above him, his arm wrapped tightly around Sanji's back as support. 

Sanji was out of breath and could barely think, still too elated from the surprise that the other man could actually dance and dance incredibly well. Zoro was panting too, his dark eyes wild and filled with an emotion that caused Sanji's face to heat up. Coming down from his high, Sanji searched the other man's face coming to a stop at his mouth.

The bastard's smirking! Reality came crashing down hard as Sanji took in everything that had happened and the position he was currently in. He gave one more look to Zoro's smirk which was much to smug for Sanji's liking. 

The blond dancer brought a leg up and kneed Zoro in the stomach. Hard. He carefully removed himself from Zoro's hold as the other man fell to his knees with a groan of pain. At least the smirk was gone.

Sanji stalked toward the exit, fuming in anger and embarrassment. “If you don't need help, don't waste my time, shitty marimo,”

Sanji could still hear Zoro's breathless laughter when he slammed the studio door shut.


	6. Romancing

Zoro’s first mistake was asking Sanji if he needed help preparing dinner. No, that was wrong. His first mistake was asking Nami and Robin for advice. His second mistake was actually following through with what they suggested.

“Get to know him in his element,” Robin had said.

“Ask him if there’s anything you can do,” Nami had added.

They had both promised that walking into the galley and offering his services would definitely put him on the cook’s good side. Che, what a load of shit.

“Oi, moron, aren’t you done smashing that sweet potato yet?” Sanji complained from across the kitchen, hands on his hips as he glared at the swordsman.

Zoro met the glare head on. Cradling a large bowl against his chest, he gave the purple mixture inside a good solid punch.

“I’m working on it,” Zoro growled out. Honestly, the stupid cook had done nothing but complain and whine about every little thing so far. It was beyond the swordsman why Sanji hadn’t kicked him out of the kitchen yet or, better yet, why he didn’t just stuff the purple mash into the blonde’s face and walk out himself. Maybe this romancing thing messed with your mind.

Yeah, probably.

The sudden screech caused Zoro to jerk in shock and stare wide-eyed at the cook’s furious expression.

“Are you using your bare hands?” Sanji cried, fists clenching as if trying to hold back the true anger that bubbled inside. Zoro, against his better judgement, answered.

“…yes?”

That seemed to be the final straw as the next moment Zoro found himself kicked out of the galley with the door shut right in his face. On the other side he could still hear Sanji screaming “Idiot swordsman! Who knows where your hands have been?!”

Later that day Zoro came to the conclusion that yes, romance did indeed mess with your mind because, despite the train wreck that had occurred earlier, Zoro still offered to help with breakfast for the next day and Sanji still gave him a light kiss on the cheek and a mumbled, “thanks, Marimo,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for curlysviola's prompt on Tumblr: maybe something with zoro cooking for sanji, or sanji teaching zoro how to cook?


	7. Shipping

It was quickly becoming one of the biggest crazes that any marine base had ever seen. It made absolutely no sense, and when first spoken of officers were down right disgusted. But for one reason or another, it grew into an unstoppable force that spread from base to base.

'Shipping' was what the officers called it. Taking two people they thought would work well together in a romantic (and/or sexual) relationship and obsessing over it in the oddest ways possible. Some marines simply talked about it, debated with others on why their pairing made the most sense. Others with some artistic talent chose to draw their people in different scenarios that ranged from innocent to uncomfortably dirty. Then there were the writers who wrote novel length stories depicting the romantic journey their favorite pairing may go through.

It first started with shipping fellow marine officers. It was harmless fun, friends making jokes and starting rumors with each other. When the hobby started to spread though, the officers began to get uncomfortable with the amount of attention they would receive if they were a part of someone’s favorite pairing.

So they turned their attention to the next best thing: pirates.

Pirates were much easier to pair up. Rumors of relationships among crews tended to spread across the seas like wildfire and were much harder to prove or disprove. Plus, not knowing the pirates personally left out that uncomfortable feeling officers sometimes got for shipping two very real people together.

Interests and pairings came and went like fads, moving from one pirate crew to another. But one crew seemed to stand out the most.

The Strawhat pirates were very popular among the marines. The crew of nine were a constant in any sort of talk about pairings and shipping. In the beginning, officers primarily speculated on who the two woman of the crew would end up with.

A large majority claimed that the Cat Burglar Nami was already madly in love with her captain, Strawhat Luffy. Others argued that the orange haired girl was better suited for the pirate hunter or the sniper.

Robin, at first, was mostly shipped with Zoro but after someone claimed they shipped her with the crew’s shipwright the idea caught on and no one ever looked back.

Of course, there were only so many pairings that the marines could make with just two women on the ship, so eventually they expanded their horizons.

“You ship the Sniper King with Blackleg?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“It doesn’t make any sense!”

“No sense? Did you see them at Enis Lobby? Totally made for each other. Besides it makes more sense than pairing Blackleg with the Pirate Hunter.”

“Hey! No two people can argue that much with each other. There has to be some sort of underlining sexual tension between them.”

“Excuse me gentlemen, I think you’re forgetting that Strawhat and the Pirate Hunter are pretty much already in love and devoted to each other. No question about it.”

So the arguments went. No one ever being completely right or wrong with their choices. In the end though, everyone pretty much agreed that, romantic or not, the Strawhats definitely loved each other.


	8. Sick

A sick Zoro wasn’t much different from a normal, healthy Zoro. Both spent most of their time rotating between eating, drinking, and napping on various spots on the ship. The only major, important difference was what happened when you woke a Zoro up.

Waking a healthy Zoro from his nap was relatively easy. All it really took to get the swordsman off his ass was a good, hard smack across the head or a swift knee to his gut. Either were good enough to rouse him from his slumber. Although the green-haired man would certainly groan and complain it never went beyond that.

A sick Zoro, however, for the safety of the whole crew needed to be woken up slowly and carefully or not at all. Sanji learned that lesson the hard way when he mistakenly woke Zoro from his nap with a foot to his face while the man was recovering from a cold. The swordsman’s attitude after that had given Chopper and Usopp nightmares and even Sanji had to admit that he had been scared shitless.

That day the whole crew agreed that a sick Zoro was better off just sleeping the illness away.

Unfortunately, they had Luffy for a captain.

“But why can’t I see Zoro?” Luffy whined as Sanji blocked the door to the infirmary.

“Because the moss head is sick.” Sanji explained. He lit a cigarette, hoping the intake would calm his nerves. “And we don’t need you making a ruckus inside.”

Sanji shuddered at the thought of what Zoro might do to the crew if Luffy barreled into the room all rubber limbs and excited cheers.

“But I wasn’t!” Luffy complained, trying to stretch around the cook’s body to get to the door. “I was gonna get Zoro all better so he can finally get out of bed and play! Zoro getting sick is no fun!”

Sanji scowled. “And who’s fault is that?”

When Luffy had been sick a few days before, the rubber captain made no attempt to quarantine himself. He acted as if everything was completely normal, physically throwing himself at everyone as if he wasn’t feverish or sniffling. Zoro tended to be a big target for the young captain’s antics so it was no surprise that the marimo walked into the galley a few days later with a fever of his own.

And like hell was Sanji going to put the whole crew in danger by letting Luffy continue those antics.

“But Sanji-”

“No.”

“But-”

“No!”

“I’ll just give him some of my meat and it will make him all better!”

“I said no!”

Sanji hadn’t meant to kick the younger man overboard. He meant to kick Luffy out of sight, certainly, but not overboard because that would’ve caused too much trouble. And it did.

“Aaahh! Luffy’s overboard! Someone help! Help!” Chopper’s panicked screams filled the air as he ran across the deck. Before anyone could stop him, the tiny reindeer jumped over the railing into the ocean after his captain.

“Wait, Chopper you can’t swim!” Usopp warned before diving after the two drowning men.

Brook leaned over the railing to stare at the water below. “Yohohoho, perhaps I should help as well!”

“Don’t you dare!” Nami screamed, knocking the tall skeleton back away from the edge. “We don’t need another idiot drowning!”

The whole ship was filled with panicked shouting and confused cries. Sanji sucked on his cigarette and rubbed his temple. Maybe the headache he was getting meant he was getting sick too, the yelling of his crew mates certainly wasn’t helping any.

A creaking of a door opening sounded behind the cook and Sanji felt a shiver run through his spine.

Zoro’s sleepy growl promised murder.

“What’s with all the noise?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for an anon prompt on Tumblr: Luffy gets a cold, and gets everyone else sick, then, when he tries to play with everyone, when they're sick and he's better. In response to Luffy's desire to play, they all beat him up, and Sanji nearly sends Luffy overboard because Zoro's sick and sleeping...


	9. Acting

As an actor most predominantly seen in RomCom movies, it wasn't uncommon to have to film a scene with a partially or fully naked co-star. These types of scenes were Sanji's absolute favourite and were the ones to help build the blond actor's career.

Sanji loved women, he loved everything about them. He loved their mannerisms, their little giggles, their soft, smooth skin, their bodies. Whenever Sanji came in contact with a half naked co-star for a shoot his confidence and acting skills went through the roof, resulting in just the corny, over the top performance that the movie lived off of.

So Sanji's acting career thrived all because he could look at partially exposed women. It was a good life.

But this movie was different.

This movie was meant to take the world by storm, the RomCom of the century. The love story between a broken war veteran and a down-on-his-luck artist, played respectively by famous, award-winning actor, Zoro Roronoa and popular RomCom actor, Sanji Black.

And today was the day they would film that scene. The type of scene that helped make Sanji's career. The half naked scene. But instead of Sanji getting to witness a woman undress, he had to watch Zoro.

A male. Stripping down to a speedo. Doing yoga.

He didn't think it could get much worse.

Him and Zoro didn't get along at the best of times, usually at each other's throats and spewing explicit insults to one another, but Sanji couldn't help but admit that the guy could act. There was a reason the man was an award-winning performer after all. On the first day of shooting Sanji got to witness first hand the man's talents. He watched in amazement as the green-haired bastard played the role of the self-destructive war hero with the perfect combination of dramatics and subtly, leaving everyone in the room gasping and holding back tears.

When the director called 'cut', Sanji found the other actor staring right at him, his lips upturned in a smirk as if daring the blond to do better.

At that moment, Sanji vowed that he would one-up the other man, somehow, someway.

All of Sanji's previous movies never called for him to be too dramatic or serious so the blond knew, in that department, the moss-head was probably a little better than him. Only a little though. But the blond knew that when the day came that they would film that scene, he would be the star of the shot.

But then he discovered what Zoro would be wearing and doing, a speedo and yoga, and he didn't think it could get any worse.

But then it did.

Because, while Sanji was absolutely certain that he was only attracted to women, staring at Zoro's muscled body, water (meant to pose as sweat) following along the hard lines of his arms and chest, body stretching much farther than Sanji thought the man was capable, a familiar feeling of arousal crept upon him.

Sanji chewed on his bottom lip. Oh god, this is so fucked up, Sanji thought as he watched the fabric of the speedo stretch with Zoro's movements, leaving very little to the imagination. And boy, was Sanji's imagination going wild.

"And action!" the director yelled, catching the blond by surprise.

What was he suppose to be doing? Running…jogging! That's right, he was the suppose to be jogging by Zoro's character's balcony to catch the man in the way-too-sexual-to-actually-be-yoga act.

Jogging up to the fake set, Sanji pretended to be surprised to see the other man, coming to a slow stop as he tried to recall his lines.

"Hello there!" Sanji called out to get Zoro's attention. When the green-haired man made eye contact, Sanji continued. "Uh, remember me? You helped me out a bit…you know, at the beach the other day."

Zoro's character snorted and looked back forward. "Yeah, I remember."

Sanji nearly gasped at the sight before him. Zoro was bending backwards, as far as he could anyway, but it was still pretty damn far. Sanji couldn't help but watch the man's muscles flex at the activity and the speedo that was pushed slightly down by the movement exposing a little more of the deliciously tanned skin.

Sanji's mind went blank.

"Uh, um, I mean…well," Fuck! What was his line? What was his line? Continuing to watch Zoro stretch himself, Sanji's eyes traveled to the man's face. He was surprised to find that not only was the moss head staring back at him, he was wearing that damn smirk again!

Sanji internally seethed. He's fucking mocking me!

Filled with a new found rage and confidence, the blond continued the scene.

"I just wanted to say thanks again." Sanji said, turning back around to where he had come from. "Oh, and by the way, you're doing that wrong."

Without another word Sanji bent himself backwards with ease, his hands touching the ground behind him in no time. The action wasn't even close to what had been scripted but no one called 'cut' yet so the blond took it a step farther.

Checking to see that Zoro was still watching, Sanji pushed his legs up into the air, making his body completely straight before separating them into a split. He could sense every set of eyes on him, watching every one of his movements carefully. He was only dressed in a casual sweatsuit but damn if he didn't feel sexy at that moment.

Returning his feet to the ground and rightening his rumpled clothes, Sanji glanced at his co-star. Zoro's mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide, his expression a mix of awe and confused arousal.

Good. Sanji smiled and waved, still in character. "Well, thanks again. See you later!"

Jogging out of the shot, the blond couldn't help but giggle as he heard Zoro splutter some sort of reply behind him.

It didn't matter if they would have to shoot the scene over again, every moment had been worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for an anon prompt on Tumblr: Prompt: Zoro's doing yoga in a pair of speedos while Sanji watches. ;)


	10. Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little different as it focuses on Sanji and Usopp instead of Sanji and Zoro. Pacific Rim AU

Usopp was not a fighter. He was a scrawny kid who spent most of his days weaving together stories and lies to the neighborhood kids. And despite all the lies he told of himself, the only real skill that he possessed was his remarkable aim. And Usopp knew this.

But Usopp had a dream. Usopp dreamed of one day becoming a hero, a brave warrior that protected everything dear to him and damn if Usopp wasn’t dedicated to that dream. So when the young teenager learned of the world wide Jaeger pilot recruitment, he signed his name with a shaky hand.

Sanji Blackleg was a fighter through and through. Sanji was a short fuse that threw out insults and kicks with furious speed. Years of training with his former co-pilot, Zeff, molded the young blond into the ideal soldier. Not only that, but Sanji was a hit with the public too. The blond was charismatic, charming, and handsome. The perfect image of a hero and every magazine and news station jumped at the chance to have Sanji speak with them.

So when they told Usopp, this small town cowardly kid, that he would be piloting with Sanji Blackleg, the long nose couldn’t believe his ears.

On their first day of training together, Usopp had been extremely nervous. Sanji was intimidating up close, he seemed to tower over the long nose and radiated enough confidence to fill the room. And Usopp thought to himself, “There is no way that we’re drift compatible.”

That day of training proved the young teen wrong. He was shocked to discover that he and Sanji were almost in sync and their neural handshake had gone off without a hitch. The whole world buzzed with the news that the popular blond found a new partner, but Sanji didn’t look nearly as surprised as Usopp felt.

Weeks of training and Usopp grew closer to Sanji. When one day their neural handshake revealed his sick mother lying helplessly in her bed with a tiny Usopp crying by her side, Sanji pulled him into his room after training to treat him to a home cooked meal and an ear to listen to the long nose’s words through the tears. When Usopp finally saw the young blond boy and the older man stranded on a god forsaken rock, the younger teen held the blond tightly and nodded along to the string of sobbed curses that Sanji spewed out.

Months of training with Sanji, and Usopp felt like he was slowly getting closer to his dream of becoming a hero. That’s not to say Usopp isn’t still easily scared by the giant monsters that sometimes towered over their Jaeger, Going Merry, because he was still very much a coward in comparison to his co-pilot. But when the warning sirens went off and the orders to suit up were barked into his ear, Usopp followed Sanji every step of the way. And right before their drop Sanji would look at him and murmur for only Usopp to hear.

“You do what I can’t do and I’ll do what you can’t do, and we’ll get through this together.”

And he believed every word.


	11. The Tango Part 2

Opening night of the show saw Sanji backstage amongst the chaos of everyone in the production getting everything in place. Sanji couldn't blame everyone's nervous anticipation, this was his first production too. In a few minutes, each person among the audience will get to watch Sanji's choreography with a critical eye and the blond's heart raced at the thought.

Yet despite his nervousness, Sanji was absolutely certain that everyone would do well. Even...even the shitty moss head.

Sanji sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Ever since his private dance lesson with Zoro, the blond had tried his damned hardest to avoid the other man. It wasn't too hard. It seemed that Zoro was finished mocking the dance instructor, choosing instead to focus on the show's rehearsals. He had heard from Robin the day before opening night that ever since his private lesson with Zoro, the male lead had been doing exceptionally well during rehearsals, dancing and all. The thought that the intense dance and close contact that the two men shared that day was probably nothing more than a prank made Sanji's heart clench uncomfortably. He didn't need to be feeling anything for the big muscled brute and it was better if he just didn't see him for the rest of his life.

"Five minutes before opening!" The stage manager announced.

"Thank you, five!" Came the chimed reply from everyone. Sanji let out another sigh and made his way toward the exit. He needed a cigarette.

A rough, large hand grabbed the blond's shoulder, halting him in his tracks. Sanji mentally swore as he felt the familiar heat of Zoro's body reach his skin.

Glancing over his shoulder, Sanji scowled. "What do you want, moss head?"

Zoro had the same unreadable expression that he always did, but this time it was emphasized with the man's thick make up.

"Aren't you going to watch the show?" Zoro asked, removing his hand and freeing Sanji from the uncomfortable heat that it provided.

"Of course," Sanji rolled his eyes. "I helped practically make this show, the least I can do is make sure you shitty actors don't screw it up. I'm just going out for a smoke."

The two lapsed into silence then, Sanji left feeling uneasy by Zoro's intense stare.

Finally, Zoro opened his mouth. "Look, curly-brow, about the other day-"

Robin's arrival cut the green haired man off. The female lead gave the men a polite smile before offering her hand to Zoro.

"Shall we get into place, Zoro?" she asked.

Zoro grunted an affirmative before glancing back at Sanji. "We're not done here. We'll talk during intermission."

With that, the two leads made their way to their blocking leaving the blond dancer behind. Sanji's fingers reached for his smokes. The marimo bastard wanted to talk, huh? All the more reason to avoid him then.

~/~/~/~/~/~

Intermission came much too quickly for Sanji's liking. He'd been enjoying the show so far, impressed and proud that the ensemble were making the blond's choreography something to applaud at. A few of them were staggering behind a bit, something he would need to remind them about later, but Sanji was happy nonetheless.

All the while, the dancer instructor stubbornly refused to watch Zoro's performance. He assumed the other man was doing well (based on the audience's positive reaction every time the man finished a song) but really, the last thing the blond wanted to see was Zoro dancing his dances. It only brought back memories of dancing together, of Zoro holding him impossibly tight and close, matching each other step for step. Yeah, Sanji really didn't need those memories.

When the speakers announced that there would be a 15 minute intermission, Sanji darted away from the stage as quickly as he could. All he had to do was avoid Zoro and the conversation that the green haired actor wanted for 15 minutes and then he'd be free.

The first five minutes had been easy. Sanji assumed Zoro would head straight to his dressing room first to change into his next costume and reapply make up, before going to look for him. So Sanji made his way over to Robin's dressing room. It was far enough away from Zoro's and he was sure Robin would be sweet enough to let him hide out in there until intermission was over. Who knows, maybe he'd even get to watch Robin change too...

Knocking on the female lead's door, Sanji called out sweetly. "Robin, my dear! Are you there?"

The door was yanked open and Sanji's heart stopped at the sight of who opened it.

Zoro stood before the blond dancer, smiling wildly as he watched Sanji's expression morph from confused to horrified.

Before Sanji could make a run for it, Zoro grabbed the other man by his collar and pulled him roughly inside the dressing room, shutting and locking the door behind them.

"Let go of me you shitty bastard!" Sanji struggled against the actor's tight hold. Why the hell was Zoro in Robin's dressing room? A quick look around showed no sign of the woman, the two men the only occupants of the room. The blond attempted to turn himself around to face the other man directly. If he could just get one good kick on the bastard he could make a quick escape.

"Quit struggling!" Zoro ordered trying to keep out of reach from the blond's lashing legs while keeping a firm grip on him.

"Like hell, asshole! Let go!"

"Not until you tell me why you've been avoiding me."

The unexpected response caused Sanji to pause in his attempt to escape. Not meeting the actor's eyes, Sanji grumbled under his breath.

"How do you know I'm avoiding you, moss bastard? It's not like we're friends or something."

Taking advantage of Sanji's lax state, Zoro made his grip on the man tighter. Sanji could feel Zoro's hard stare.

"Ever since that dance practice you won't even come within five feet of me. When the rehearsals were just me and Robin you refused to come at all!" Zoro went quiet then, long enough for Sanji to get curious and glance up at the man's face. The actor was still watching him but his expression was much softer than before. "Was it something I did?"

Something inside Sanji snapped at the moment. In a fit of anger the blond dancer yanked himself away from Zoro's hold and delivered a hard kick to the green haired man's gut. Zoro grunted in pain from the impact, falling to the floor with his arms clutching his stomach.

"Was it something you did?" Sanji repeated in anger. "You shitty bastard, you know what you did! Who the fuck goes through all the trouble of pretending to be shit at dancing just to fucking mock me in the end, huh? Shitty, stupid, idiotic, algae assholes, that's who!"

Sanji couldn't stay in this room, not with the other man, he needed to leave before he made it so that Zoro wouldn't be able to walk back on stage after the intermission. Grounding his teeth together and shaking with fury, Sanji stalked his way toward the room's door fully intending to leave the whole mess behind.

A pair of tanned arms wrapped itself around Sanji's torso, stopping the blond at the door. Sanji could feel Zoro's chest pressing against his back bringing him back to the intimate moment of their dancing when they had been this close before. Zoro leaned forward enough for his breathe to tickle the dancer's ear and Sanji suppressed the urge to shudder at the feeling.

"Let go."

"Not until you listen to me, curly-browed diva." Sanji snorted at the nickname but otherwise stayed silent. "I didn't pretend to be bad to make fun of you. It's just...since the beginning you worked closely with everyone, even some of the other guys. You gave everyone one-on-one help...except me. And maybe I got cocky at the end there, sure, but I wasn't trying to make fun of you." Sanji could feel Zoro's smirk press against his ear. "Not that time at least."

Zoro released the other man then, waiting for Sanji's reaction to the news. When the blond did finally turn around he was watching Zoro's expression carefully.

"So you did all of that to...get my attention?" Sanji couldn't decide whether to be flattered or smug about the fact that the bastard went through all the trouble of trying to get closer to him. He decided to go with smug when he saw Zoro looking at everything but the blond.

"Ah, well...you know." As Zoro struggled to find something to say, Sanji took pity on the man deciding to close the distance between them once more.

"Hey marimo," Sanji smirked. "Would you like to dance the tango with me again?"

~/~/~/~/~/~

When the stage manager came looking for Zoro, panicked that the man missed the call that intermission was over, he found Sanji and Zoro stumbling out of Robin's dressing room flustered and disheveled. The blond frantically claimed to have been giving Zoro some last minute pointers for his next dance but Zoro's satisfied grin spoke of something else entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for mustangisinflames on Tumblr who wanted a sequel to the drabble "The Tango"


	12. Fox

It was easily one of the weirdest devil fruit powers that Zoro had ever seen. No matter how much he racked his brain he couldn't even figure out what the purpose of the devil fruit was. All the swordsman knew was that the cook had been stupid enough to leave himself wide open for an attack. An attack that came in the form of an obnoxiously bright pink beam and resulted in the tiny, sandy-colored fox that stood where the cook had been moment before.

Zoro had been so dumbstruck by the sudden transformation that the damned devil fruit user had been able to make his escape into the island's forest with a victorious cheer.

Zoro…wasn't exactly sure how to proceed from there.

On one hand, he could chase after the devil fruit user. The man couldn't have gone very far and it was better to eliminate a pest before it caused anymore trouble to him or the crew. On the other hand, there was also the matter of the royally pissed off fox…Sanji….thing that was currently growling and hissing at the swordsman by his feet.

Zoro rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, curly-brow, you still in there?"

In response, Sanji sank his teeth into the calf of one of Zoro's legs.

"OW! You fucking, shitty cook!" Zoro howled as he bent over to yank the tiny creature off and away from his leg. The green haired man snarled at the fox and Sanji did the same, barring his sharper, but much smaller, canines. "Don't get all pissy with me, idiot, when it was your own fault for getting hit the first place."

Zoro was sure that had Sanji been in his normal human form there would have been a excessive amount of shouted profanities and wild kicks all aimed at the swordsman's head. But Zoro was a giant compared to Sanji's fox form and so the cook couldn't do much more than desperately struggle against the other man's grip, growl, and—

"Yip!"

Both Sanji and Zoro froze at the sound, momentarily forgetting their argument and struggle with each other.

Sanji watched in horror as Zoro's body began to shake, his lips pressed tightly together but still curved at the ends into a small smile. A small sound escaped Zoro's mouth before the swordsman let it all out. Doubling over in laughter, Zoro's entire body shook as he dropped Sanji to the ground to grab his sides. The sound of Zoro's amusement only grew louder when Sanji charged at Zoro's leg and continued to bark.

"Yipyipyipyipyip!"

The laughter only stopped when Zoro received another vicious bite to the leg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for an lexiangrybird's prompt on Tumblr: OH OH OH! Okay Sanji is turned into a mini baby fox thing because he was shot with a devil fruit power. Zoro finds him and he carries him back to the sunny, then takes care if him while looking for the devil fruit user. Just fluff, but lots of it please


	13. Adventures of Kuina and Sanji (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part one of a little drabble series I'm calling "Adventures of Kuina and Sanji" where a deceased Kuina and Sanji watch Zoro grow up.

For a long while the sun blinds him.

At least, he thinks it's the sun. The bright, golden hue that would circle the blinding light had eventually faded away. Everything was just white now. There he was, a starving young boy, lying on the ground staring into the white nothingness. The sharp pain of hunger is gone now but he knows he's starving, he knows he hasn't eaten in forever. Feels like years. 

Everything has gone quiet too. The waves, the wind, the occasional grunt from the old geezer on the other side of the rock. Like the whole world had been muted but he was much too tired to raise himself to check. 

He stays like that for a while. He wonders when death will come.

 

Death turns out to be a little girl. 

Not too little, she's at least a few years older than he is, with dark black hair and matching eyes. She's pretty, he thinks to himself briefly, in a very boyish sort of way. Very different from the high end guests he would so often see on The Orbit. 

She's smiling at him though and her voice echos in the whiteness.

“Hello.”

He opens his mouth to respond, he can feel the rough texture of his tongue and lips, and he's surprised with how easily his voice comes to him.

“Hi.” 

“I'm looking for someone.” She explains, bending her knees to speak closer to him. “Has anyone passed by here?”

He shakes his head. Nothing has come or gone, its been just him for so long. As an afterthought he adds an, “I'm sorry.” because even in Death manners were important in front of a female. 

The girl lets out an exasperated sigh and straightens herself. 

“I knew it wouldn't be that easy. He sure does like to wonder in the oddest places.”

He wants to close his eyes, he wants it to be over. He's been staring at white for who-knows-how-long, delving himself into the blackness would be a nice change. 

But she's still looking at him, her face furrowed in concentration. 

“The search might be easier with two people,” She mumbles, glancing at her surroundings. Suddenly he wishes he were back at The Orbit, in its functioning kitchen where he could offer the girl a nice cooked meal and a refreshing drink to help her rest from her search for whomever it was she was looking for. 

For being dead, he feels awfully useless.

Death is holding her hand out to him, smiling once again. “Would you like to join me?”

At this point, anywhere would be better than where he was now. Lying on the ground with nothing around him. He nods his head slowly and raises his own hand to meet her's. He can see his sunken pale skin, his bones visibly outlined beneath. His arm, palm, fingers, everything is so painfully thin in comparison to the girl. If she thought anything of his appearance, she showed no signs of it as they clasped hands. 

And he closes his eyes, expecting the world to fall away from him, for everything to be absolutely over once and for all. 

Instead, sound crashes over him. So many things invade his ears at once that he actually winces from the force. So loud, so loud. And the world beneath him is suddenly hard and rough, something brushes past him and tickles at his nose and it reminds him of the winds while out sailing the ocean. 

He opens his eyes and the world is in vivid color, it's populated by everything and anything that had been absent in his white nothingness. And before he can process what's happened, the girl is tugging at their still clasped hands. 

“Come on,” She urges. “We have to keep looking. Zoro can slip right past us if we're not careful.”

He notices his body is still unnaturally thin from starvation and he's still dressed in his ratty, torn up chefs outfit from The Orbit but it doesn't hold him back from following behind the older girl.

Later he learns that she is not in fact Death. Her name is Kuina and she's on a search for her friend, Zoro. And, apparently now, so was he.


End file.
